After beginning the week on a stronger note than last week, stocks on Wall Street dipped later in the day only to finish where they started.The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.14 points to 10,302.01 as the market reacted to disappointing reports on ma
After beginning the week on a stronger note than last week, stocks on Wall Street dipped later in the day only to finish where they started.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.14 points to 10,302.01 as the market reacted to disappointing reports on manufacturing in the New York region and higher confidence in the US homebuilding sector.
DIY retailer Lowe's provided the bright spot with a 0.6% rise after buoyant second quarter earnings while arch-rival Home Depot, which is due to report, rose 0.3%.
Ttechnology stocks provided the only other action on takeover activity. Traders said computer giant Dell's acquisition of storage technology firm 3Par was generating excitement for other potential takeover targets.
Shares of 3Par jumped 87%, while Dell edged down 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4% to 2181.867. The broader S&P 500 index was unchanged at 1079.
Other markets: Europe steady, Asia mixed
European stocks finished mostly flat, though well off intraday lows, brushing aside largely downbeat economic data from the US and helped by a jump in the basic-resources sector.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended up 0.05 points at 255.61 and the Stoxx Europe 600 basic-resources index gained 0.9% to 497.85.
The UK's FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX also closed nearly flat, at 5276.10 and 6110.57 respectively. France's CAC-40 closed 0.4% lower at 3597.60.
Asian markets ended mixed as Japanese stocks declined on the nation's disappointing economic growth while Chinese banks advanced after Agricultural Bank of China sold additional shares to raise a record amount from its initial public offering.
The Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.6% to 9196.67 as Japan's GDP rose 0.4% in annualised terms in the second quarter. The result meant that China surpassed Japan as the world's second-largest economy in the second quarter of 2010.
China’s Shanghai Composite rose 2.1% to 2662.71. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.5% to 4438.49, Korea's Kospi dropped 0.2% to 1743.31 and Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.2% to 1959.25.
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.6% to 7941.22 while India's Sensex slid 0.6% to 18,050.78.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude futures ventured slightly higher despite lower equities markets, as the dollar fell slightly against competing currencies.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery traded up 25USc, or 0.3%, at $US75.64 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange fell one cent to $US75.10 a barrel.
Gold futures rose to a six-week high as a round of economic data disappointed and spurred some safe-haven buying.
Gold for December delivery, the most active contract, added $US7.90, or 0.7%, to $US1224.50 an ounce in New York. Gold last peaked in late June, when it traded at nearly $US1246 an ounce.
Currencies: Dollar down, Swiss franc up
The dollar weakened sharply against the yen as disappointing US and Japanese data added to concerns about the pace of the global economic recovery.
Investors also piled into the Swiss franc, which, like the yen, often is perceived as a safe harbor. The dollar shed about 1.3% of its value against the Swiss franc, while the euro slipped roughly 0.6% on the franc.
The euro was at $US1.2836 from $US1.2753 late on Friday. The dollar was at ¥85.40 from ¥86.30. The euro was at ¥109.62 from ¥110.21.
The UK pound strengthened to $US1.5682 from $US1.5593. The dollar weakened to 1.0384 Swiss francs from 1.0523 francs.
